Clean Up....

Weather called for rain....so the rain suits went on and, with  not much else to do, I fired up the pressure washer  to clean the sidewalks and driveway.

All walkways and the driveway were in need of a good clean up.....and the garden too.

Jeanette and I had other plans for the long weekend.  The weather chose not to cooperate so we took 'plan B' and worked on the yard.  While I was pressure washing, she was busy with pruning and weeding the flower garden.

Here she is moving this one plant from the back yard......

....to the front yard.

The way we are dressed pretty well tells the weather story.  It was unseasonably cool....and unseasonably wet - yet again.  Very odd winter and spring weather, so far.  We sure hope the weather gods have a change of heart soon....and we have some summer.

We did get a few days of sun and heat during the week.  It was very pleasant, although short lived.

Back yard.

Jeanette put the pruning shears to work....

With some brief work stoppages to chat up the neighbours, we held steady with the work and managed to complete our tasks by dinner time.

So that was how we spent our Saturday.  

Sunday was dedicated to Hockey and Golf.  Yep, I kept switching between the Canucks/Sharks NHL game and watching David Toms win his first PGA tournament, in several years, in Fort Worth, Texas. While I watched these two major sporting events, Jeanette attended a bridal shower in White Rock.

We are hoping to take a motorcycle ride today - should the weather cooperate - so we could have another blog soon.

Thanks for dropping by.

Just Been Busy

The inspector and foreman...or is that a foreperson! I am trying to be politically correct here.

The worker!

Just kidding folks!  Jeanette was there with a helpful pair of hands -ideas too - to put this metal gate system together.  Some of you may remember a few posts back when we dug and placed  one 9' metal post into cement and attached another to the house.  The objective was to install a maintenance free, locking metal gate system to replace the existing cedar wood gates.

The hinge system.

The privacy slats.

It was fairly straight forward work to install the hinge hardware, level the two gates (1 X 10 ft. / 1 X 4 ft.) and insert the privacy slats in their rightful spots.

Progress....

Now inserting privacy slats on the 10 ft gate.

Getting close to finishing this part.

Once the slats were in and we had somewhat figured out the locking hardware system, we began to take the existing cedar gates apart.  We removed all hinge screws and hinges and dug down to the concrete supporting  the 6X6 posts.

Little gate is gone.

One of the two larger gates gone.

Once all gates were removed, that left the removal of the two posts.  The original entry width was only 8' 10".  Once removed, I will have 11' 6" of width to back the 5th wheel in.  That extra width makes backing in and driving out far less taxing.

So....out came the chain saw.

We removed about 4" of crushed rock, below grade, to reveal the concrete.  I cut about 1.5" above the concrete.

Cutting these posts saved many, many hours of digging, huffing and puffing, cursing and sweating, to try and pull them out.  Much easier to cut and cover.  So be it!

Easy work...

The finished RV gate project...with the privacy slats cut at the right height.

...and one last shot of this epic project.

So....we are pleased with the result.  When the 10' and 4' gates are opened there is now 11' 6" of ample room to maneuver the fiver back  and forth without the need to fret about a 4" space on each side. Between the house wall and the neighbour's fence is a wide open space of 14'.    Mission accomplished!

Thanks for dropping in.

Howe Sound / Pacific Coast Sights

Our last blog highlighted scenes and activities related to Mother's Day.  Now, this blog will feature the other places we went to and photographed while on our journey to and from the Howe Sound town of Squamish, BC - only 30 minutes south of the famed Whistler, BC ski resort that saw great prominence during the 2010 winter Olympics.

Highway 99 north - along Howe Sound.

Wonderful highway.....but it cost a fortune to build and redevelop for the 2010 Olympics.

It is a scenic drive anywhere along the Trans Canada Highway 1 heading west towards Horseshoe Bay, and one of the two primary ferries terminals to Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. BC Ferries services passengers, automobiles and truck transport.  

Our journey continued north on Highway 99 along Howe Sound.

Imagine the cost to blow up mountain granite to build a level road.

The town of Squamish was a serious forestry resource town that is more tourism oriented today.

Modern - resort style - condos dot the town's rejuvenated streets and avenues.

Beautiful tourist information centre - just off Highway 99.

Beautiful mountain surroundings in the lush springtime greening.

Pedestrian overpass.

On the drive back towards Vancouver, we stopped in at one of my favourite places.  Jeanette had never been there but I have been there - a time or two - with my golfing foursome.  Yes, we stopped at the famous and testy Furry Creek Golf Course.

The big rock says it all.

Just a beautiful mountain and ocean-side golf course.

Nice club house with restaurant and pro shop.

The 18th hole - requiring a 200 yard 2nd shot up to the green.  Not an easy shot.

Jeanette is checking the golf course clock....and suggested we should move on.  We were joining friends for dinner.

But, she first had to take a hike in the woods to find out what the water sound was all about.

Is this Furry Creek?  Conventional wisdom would likely agree with that.

We weren't able to get to hole No. 1 but I've played this course and when standing at the tee, you are facing Howe Sound and the ocean, and the golf shot is a huge drop to several hundred feet below.  Quite a view.  I'll take photos the next time we play the course.

From here, we headed south towards Vancouver.

More shots along Howe Sound.

Britannia Mines.  A refurbished mine site that is now a museum on mining in British Columbia.

A final Howe Sound shot before we made our way through Horseshoe Bay and on to Marine Drive.

A marina in West Vancouver City.

One of the many ships waiting for permission to enter Coal Harbour in the city of Vancouver.

Lions Gate bridge - under which is the entrance to Vancouver Harbour.

Now on the Lions Gate Bridge...heading into Vancouver city.

Downtown Vancouver.

....on Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver.

It's springtime and the trams are out and ready for the summer tourist season.

The museum....

And that pretty well sums up our return trip from Squamish, this past Sunday.  Yesterdays blog would have been quite lengthy so I saved some shots and thoughts for this one.  Not a lot of interesting stuff happening in our lives of late. I have been busy writing, these past few days, and it's kind of tough to blog and have photographs of that activity.

Thanks for dropping by.  Hoping for the sun to shine and the temperatures to return to normal.  Most unusual spring here on the Pacific Northwest Coast.